Obama Enjoys 10-1 Financial Edge Over Romney
President Barack Obama’s re-election effort enjoyed a 10-to-1 financial edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney last month, out-raising the former Massachusetts governor by millions as Obama stuffed more than $104 million into his campaign war chest.
A nasty primary battle between Romney and his GOP rivals took a financial toll on his presidential campaign, which raised $12.6 million in March and left Romney with about $10 million in the bank by month’s end. All told, Obama and the Democratic Party raised a combined $53 million in donations during that period, while Romney with his party pulled in about half of that.
Still, an anticipated fire hose of cash from major Republican “super” political committees and the Republican Party is likely to bring some financial parity to the general election, for which Romney only recently started collecting donations. Super PACs like American Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, raised $100 million this election cycle, and the groups plan to flood the airwaves in coming months with ads critical of Obama.
Also helping Romney is the Restore Our Future super PAC, which reported an $8.6 million last month, largely from a handful of wealthy donors and some continued supporters. The group, for its part, spent more than $11 million on TV spots during the month, coming off a successful track record of battering Romney’s GOP primary opponents with attack ads.
For the first time since Super Tuesday, voters got a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. Friday marks nearly three months since Obama’s campaign changed course and asked supporters to pony up cash to a favorable super PAC, although its fundraising figures weren’t yet available late Friday.
Financial reports due Friday to the Federal Election Commission were expected to show much red ink struggling campaigns are bleeding — or how much money some groups have been stuffing into their war chests. The Republican National Committee reported a March fundraising haul of $13.7 million, which will boost the eventual GOP nominee during the general election.
Obama’s fundraising advantage puts him at a less-than-solid position when compared with the tens of millions of dollars the sister Crossroads groups have amassed so far. During the last six months of 2011 alone, GPS brought in $28 million from only a few dozen major donors, recent tax filings show. Crossroads has said it plans to raise more than $300 million to beat Obama